Aiken PR has been awarded ‘Best Public Affairs campaign’ in Ireland’s PRII Awards for Excellence for its work with Opt for Life, the organisation which set out to change legislation on organ donation throughout the island of Ireland. 

The event which was held in Dublin’s Shelbourne hotel saw Head of Public Affairs at the Belfast and Dublin based agency, Shane Finnegan and GAA All Star and pundit Joe Brolly receiving the award from the Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Opt for Life was created following Joe Brolly’s unsuccessful kidney transplant to fellow GAA coach Shane Finnegan in late 2012. The two men vowed to change the failings, as they saw it, within organ donation practices and legislative systems on both sides of the Irish border.

The public affairs industry recognition which Aiken PR supported pro bono was awarded on the basis of an intense public and media relations campaign and political engagement at the highest level of government, both within the Dail and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

As a direct result of the campaign the Irish government has committed to investing €3 million per annum and nineteen full time organ donation staff within its HSE Service plan, with legislation being developed to place family consent at the heart of the system of organ donation in Ireland.

In Northern Ireland Opt for Life is working closely with the Northern Ireland Assembly and has secured the First Minister and deputy First Ministers as co – signatures to the Ulster Unionist Jo-Anne Dobson’s Private Member’s Bill on the issue.

Commenting on the Award, the PRII Awards for Excellence said, “This was an issue of personal concern put onto the national agenda.  There were clear but demanding objectives, a relentless and skilled communications approach and a modestly funded budget.  With the media coverage achieved and the securing of legislation change and HSE investment this campaign was an excellent example of public affairs and public relations campaign working together.